Secondary battery.



No. 664,|9. 'Patented nec; la, |900.

F. w. wETHEmLL.

SECONDARY BATTERY.

(Application med Feb. 4, 1899.) (un Model.) 2 sheets-sneer 1'.

No. 66.4,|98. Patented Deo. I8, |900.

F. W. WETHERILL.

SECONDARY BATTERY.

(Application Bled Feb. 4, 1899.) (No Model.) 2 sheets-sheet' 2.

UNITED STATES Armar Fries.

FRANK W. WETHERILL, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR OF THREE-FOURTHS TO WILLIAM S. KIRK A'ND W. STOKES KIRK, OF SAME PLACE.

SECONDARY BATTERY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 664,198, dated. December 18, 1900.

Application filed February 4, 1899. Serial No. 704,593. (No model.)

To ftZJ/ wwnt 1325 www concern,.-

Beit known that I, FRANK W. WETHER- ILL, a citizen of the United States, residing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have invented certain Improvements in Storage Batteries, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to so con struct a secondary battery that the plates will be thoroughly insulated one from another and to so arrange the battery elements that there will be practically no local action owing to the disintegration of the materials. The battery will be compact and substantial and can be cheaply7 manufactured.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure lis a sectional plan View of my improved secondary battery. Fig. 2 is an end View, partly in section. Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3 3, Fig. 1. Fig. 4. is a perspective view of one of the lead plates. Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing one of the partitions, and Fig. 6 is an enlarged view of a detail of my invention.

A and B are lead plates.

D is a non-conducting partition.

a indicates litharge, and b indicates red lead, while c is charcoal.

E is a casing composed of asphalt, mineral caoutchouc, or other non-conducting material which can be poured aro-und the elements, which will harden when cool.

The lead plates A and B are made of proper dimensions and the edges of the plates are coated, as indicated in Fig. 4, with coal-tar of the consistency of'paint. In fact, I paint the coal-tar on the edges. then baked until the coaltar is dry and comparatively hard. They are then in condition to be assembled.

The partitions D separating the cells of the battery are preferably made of sheet asbestos saturated With coal-tar or mineral caoutchouc and baked until the material is hardened.

A sheet of lead for the negative-pole plate A is first placed on a board or suitable foundation, and upon this plate is spread a layer a of litharge. Onthis layer of lithargeis placed a layer of granulated charcoal c, and on this charcoal is placed a layer of red lead b. Then on the red lead is placed the positive-pole plate of lead B. On the opposite side of this The plates are positive-pole plate of lead is spread another layer of red lead b, followed by a layer of charcoal c, then a layerof litharge a andanother negative-pole plate A, and so on, according to the number of elements required in each cell. y

In the drawings I have simply shown one positive-pole plate and two negative-pole plates in each cell, and in this case I prefer to mount the two negative-pole plates on each side of the partition D before the plates are assembled. I n fact, they maybe placed in position when the coal-tar or asphalt is in such a condition that the lead plates will adhere to the treated partition D. After this partition and its two lead plates are in position -the battery is vbuilt up as before until the number of cellsrequired is obtained. For instance, in the drawings I have shown a battery having two cells.

After the elements are assembled tapes e, of non-conducting material, are placed around the edges of the red lead, litharge, and charcoal, as shown in Figs. l and 3. These tapes are preferably made of asbestos saturated with coal-tar, asphalt, or mineral caoutchouc. The elements are now ready to be inclosed by pouring molten mineral caoutchouc or asphalt around each side, top, and bottom, as indicated by E, leaving an opening fat the top. l

The ltapes e prevent the molten material E yentering the space occupied by the charcoal and also prevent the moisture in the litharge, red lead, and charcoal gaining access to the molten material. Thus when the molten material is applied it will cling to the elements in a solid homogeneous mass, thoroughly in* sulating one plate from another.

When the cell is charged, plates A are the ones on which spongy lead is present and are therefore the positive electrodes or negativepole plates on discharge. Similarly plates B are the peroXid plates when the celIis charged, being therefore the negative electrodes or the positive-pole plates on discharge.

On referring tothe drawings it Will be seen that both the positive and negative pole plates A and B extend beyond the line of the litharge, red lead, and charcoal, and these IOO portions of the plates are the portions treated with the coal-tar, the purpose of which is to make an absolute joint between the mineral caoutchouc or asphalt and the lead plates. When the asphalt is poured into this space, it surrounds the edges of the plates and also around the edges of the partition, making an absolute non-conducting iilling, so that shortcircuiting of the battery is prevented. The partition preferably extends beyond the line of the plates, as shown in Fig. 1. When the asphalt has set, the clamps can be detached and the boards removed. The battery is then ready to be inserted in asuitable receptaclesuch, for instance, as the box shown in Fig. l-and can be formed and charged in the ordinary manner.

Each of the plates A and B has terminal extensions a' and b', respectively, and these can be coupled in any suitable manner, either bya separate coupling-plate or by lead-burning one to the other.

The electrolyte I prefer to use is dilute sulfuric acid, which can be poured through the openingfinto the charcoal-space between the electrodes, the charcoal absorbing a certain amount of this sulfuric acid, and the remainder can be poured od, so that there is no dangel' of leakage, as in the ordinary liquid bat.- tery.

When the battery is weak, owing to the evaporation of the electrolyte, acid may be introduced to bring the battery up to the standard.

It will be understood that the idea of coating the edges of the lead plates with coal-tar maybe practiced in connection with the lead plates of primary batteries as well as those of secondary.

In building up the battery I prefer to place between the charcoal and the red lead and litharge sheets d of' porous fabric, as shown in Fig. 6, which will prevent the charcoalbeing impressed into the body of litharge or red lead.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination in a battery, of a series of metallic elements suitably spaced and connected together by a non-conducting substance, such as asphalt, each metallic element having a coating of coal-tar at the junction where it is bound to the asphalt, substantially as described.

2. The combination in a battery, 0f a battery-plate, a non-conducting material enveloping the edges of said plate, and coal-tar on the edges of said plate, said tar having been baked thereon and forming an acid-proofjoint between said plate edges and the non-conducting envelop, substantially as described.

3. The combination of a series of lead plates forming alternate positive and negative plates, litharge and red lead mounted between the said plates and separated by a layer of granulated carbon, each plate having its edges coated with coal-tar and a non-conducting material binding the several elements together, substantially as described.

4. The combination of a battery made up of a series of cells, each cell containing negative and positive lead plates, with litharge and red lead mounted between the plates and separated from each other by alayer of charcoal, a division-plate of asbestos coated with coal-tar and mounted between two ofthe said plates and insulating one from the other, substantially as described.

5. The combination in astorage battery, of a series of negative and positive plates suitably spaced, the space between the plates being filled with a layer of litharge in contact with each of the negative-pole plates, and a layer of red lead on each side of the positivepole plates, a layer of charcoal separating the red lead and the litharge, a partition-plate saturated with a non-conductor and extending beyond vthe negative-pole plates, with a non-conductor binding the several elements together and forming non-conducting ends for the battery, substantially as described.

6. The combination in a secondary battery, of a series of lead plates having between them litharge, charcoal and red lead, a strip of nonconductingmaterialsurroundingthelitharge, red lead and charcoal and extending from one plate to the other and non-conducting material back of the strip, substantially as described.

7. The combination in a secondary battery, of a series of lead plates with litharge, charcoal and red lead between the plates arranged substantially as described, with a porous fabric between the charcoal, litharge and red lead, substantially as described.

8. The combination in a storage battery, of a series of lead plates, litharge, red lead and granulated charcoal between the plates, strips of non-conducting fabric mounted between the plates at the edges of the charcoal, red lead and litharge and extending over the top of the battery, with non-conducting material in the space su rrounding the plates and above the plates, and an opening at the top for the liquid, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

FRANK W. WETHERILL.

Witnesses:

WILL. A. BARR, J os. H. KLEIN.

IIO 

